Illuminated indicator for house numbers or the like



F. L. SHELOR June 1, 1937;

ILLUMINATED INDICATOR FOR HOUSE NUMBERS ORTHE LIKE Filed Feb. 13, 1936"Patented June 1. 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ILLUMINATED INDICATORFOR HOUSE NUMBERS OR THE LIKE 5 Claims.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in an illuminatedindicator which may be used for indicating a house number, room numbersin an oflice building, the names of streets 5 and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide an indicator which may becheaply made and wherein the characters which are illuminated are madeclear and distinct from all angles of vision.

A further object of the invention is to provide an illuminated indicatorof the above type wherein the rays of light for illuminating theindicator are projected on to the indicator from one edge thereof, andare reflected and dispersed over the surface containing the charactersto be illuminated by the rear face of a frosted glass surface throughwhich said characters are viewed."

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part behereinafter more fully dis- 20 closed.

In the drawing which shows by way of illustration one embodiment of theinvention-- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the illuminatedindicator embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the indicator shown inFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the indicator shown inFig. 1;

Fig.4. is a detail in perspective showing the manner of joining theframe supporting the characters to be illuminated on the housing for theilluminating means;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale through the glass panelsand the strip carrying 35 the characters to be illuminated, and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing a slightly modified formof the invention.

Many efforts have been made to produce an indicator for numbers, lettersand other forms of 40 characters wherein the rays of light forilluminating the characters are caused to pass edgewise through a glasspanel through which the characters are viewed. Such devices have notbeen eflicient for the reason that such a large J 45 proportion of theilluminating rays do not conprovided which may be mounted on a suitablebracket arm 2 in any desired way. This housing, as shown, issubstantially rectangular in cross section, and the bracket arm 2 isfirmly attached to the bottom member 3 of the housing. The side walls 4,4 of the housing are bent inwardly at the upper edges thereof so as toprovide two top members 5, 5. Each top member 5 is provided withupwardly projecting flanges 6, and these flanges are normally spacedfrom each other. Each end of the housing is provided with a closure capI which extends some little distance into the housing, as shown in Fig.2, and the side walls 4, 4 and the top members 5, 5 are unattached tothis end closure. All of the parts described are opaque so that no lightpasses therethrough. The parts are preferably made of metal which may beenameled in any desired color for decorative purposes. Located withinthis housing is a lighting tube 8 which may be of any desired form. Thecurrent for the lighting tube is supplied through wires 9 which leadthrough the bracket arm from the source of supply and are attached toterminals Ill, l0 associated with a socket piece II to which thelighting tube is attached. This socket piece is attached to one of theend closure members 1. The member to which it is attached may bedetachably secured to the housing in any suitable way.

A U-shaped frame is provided for supporting the strip on which thecharacters to be illuminated are placed. This U-shaped frame consists oftwo end members l2, l2 which are connected at their upper ends by across member l3. The end members and the cross member are also U-shapein cross section, as indicated in Fig. 4, so that each end memberincludes side pieces l2a, I2a which are spaced from each other, and aconnecting piece Hi). This connecting piece I2?) is preferably extendedslightly below the edges of the side pieces l2a, lZa.

As shown in the drawing, the indicator is con structed and adapted tocontain two strips with characters thereon, which may be viewed,respectively, from opposite sides of the indicator. It is understood,however, that a single strip may be used when it is desired to view theindicator only from one side thereof. One of the strips is indicated atM in the drawing, and the other is indicated at I5. The strip isprovided with characters which are indicated in the drawing at I6. Thisstrip is of opaque material, preferably paper, and likewise, thecharacters are of opaque material, and preferably paper. The characters,

however, are of paper having different light reflecting properties thanthe surface of the strip. For example, the strip may be black so that itabsorbs the light rays, and the characters may be 5 white so as toreflect the light rays, or the reverse characters may be used. It isonly essential that the character and the strip on which it is mountedshall have different light reflecting properties, so that whenilluminated, the characters will be made visible. In front of the stripI5 is a glass panel l'l'. This glass panel I! is preferably ofrelatively thick glass, such as plate glass. The front face of the glasspanel is frosted as indicated at IS. The frosted surface may be obl5tained by grinding or by etching, or in any other suitable way. It isessential, however, that the surface shall be broken into a multitude ofminute surfaces which are at an angle to each other. The characters areon the front face of the strip and are in contact with the rear face ofthe glass panel ll. Also contacting with the strip I4 is a glass paneli9 with a frosted surface 20. The glass panels and the strips are placedin this supporting frame and then the supporting frame is attached tothe housing I. The upstanding flanges 6, 6 are housed within the sidepieces I2a, lZa and the piece lZb extends down over the end closure 1 toaid in holding it in place. This provides a very cheap method of closingthe housing against the end closures and providing a housing which iscompletely closed, except for the slot between the upstanding flanges 6,6. The glass panels fill this slot, so that all of the light rayspassing from the housing I must pass through the glass panels. The lightrays passing up into the glass panel I'l will contact with the innerface of the frosted surface, and as the rays contact with the minutesurfaces angularly disposed relative to each other, the rays of lightwill be dispersed and will be reflected onto the characters forilluminating the same. Inasmuch as the characters to be illuminated arein contact with the rear face of the glass panel, the rays of light areimmediately absorbed as they leave the glass panel, or turned back andreflected through the frosted surface to the observer. This results in avery clear-cut illuminated character which can not only be viewed fromdirectly in front, but from any angle of approach to a position directlyin front of the indicator. This makes the indicator very efficient foruse in the indicating of the names of streets, and also for use inindicating the number of a house, or the number of a room in an oflicebuilding.

55 The characters on the strip l4 are only seen, of course, from theopposite side of the indicator, and as has already been noted, only onestrip and one glass panel may be used in the indicator, if desired.

60 In Fig. 6 of the drawing, the glass panel as shown has been treatedwith a transparent lacquer which is indicated at 2 I. This transparentlacquer is distributed over the frosted surface of the glass in asufficient quantity to substantially flll all the minute cavities in thefrosted surface.

This reduces the dispersion of the rays of light as they are reflectedfrom the illuminated surface of the strip. For example, a ray of lightreflected from the illuminated surface contacting with the angularlyarranged inner face of a cavity will be refracted, and then as it passesthrough the transparent lacquer, and as it leaves the outer surface ofthe lacquer, it will be brought back more nearly into a direction ofmovement perpendicular to the plane of the outer face of the glasspanel. This transparent lacquer increases the efflciency of theillumination of the characters, while the inner face of the frostedsurface greatly increases the efliciency of the reflected rays which aredistributed and dispersed over the surface to be illuminated.

It is obvious that many changes in the details of construction and thearrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spiritof the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. An illuminated indicator comprising a glass panel, a strip havingcharacters on one face thereof, the characters and strip on which theyare mounted having different light absorbing properties, said stripbeing disposed relative to the glass panel so that the characters arevisible through said glass panel, the outer face of said glass panelbeing frosted, and means for housing and directing illuminating raysthrough the edge of the glass panel into the glass and against the rearface of said frosted surface of the glass panel whereby said rays aredispersed and reflected on to the strip and characters to beilluminated.

2. An illuminated indicator comprising a glass panel, a strip havingcharacters on one face thereof, the characters and strip on which theyare mounted having different light absorbing properties, said stripbeing disposed relative to the glass panel so that the face thereofbearing the characters contacts with the rear face of said glass panel,the outer face of said glass panel being frosted, and means for housingand directing illuminating rays through the edge of the glass panel intothe glass and against the rear face of said frosted surface of the glasspanel whereby said rays are dispersed and reflected on to the strip andcharacters to be illuminated.

3. An illuminated indicator comprising a housing, an illuminating meanswithin the housing, said housing being of opaque material and having alongitudinal slot in one wall thereof, means for supporting the glasspanel with the edge portion thereof in register with said slot, anopaque strip having characters on one face thereof, the characters andpanel on which they are mounted having different light absorbingproperties, said strip being disposed relative to the glass panel sothat the face thereof bearing the characters contacts with the rear faceof the glass panel, the outer face of said glass panel being frosted andmeans for housing and directing illuminating rays through the slot andinto the glass panel, whereby the light rays contacting with the innerface of the frosted surface will be dispersed and reflected on to saidstrip and the characters for illuminating the same.

4. An illuminated indicator comprising a glass panel, a strip havingcharacters on one face thereof, the characters and strip on which theyare mounted having different light absorbing properties, said stripbeing disposed relative to the glass panel so that the characters arevisible through said glass panel, the outer face of said glass panelbeing frosted, and means for housing and directing illuminating raysagainst the rear face of said frosted surface of the glass panel wherebysaid rays are dispersed and reflected on to the strip and characters tobe illuminated, said frosted surface of the glass panel having atransparent lacquer applied thereto and filling the cavities in theglass surface.

it. An illuminating indicator comprising a housing. an illuminatingmeans within the housing, said housing being of opaque material andhaving a longitudinal slot in one wall thereof, means for supporting theglass panel with the edge portion thereof in register with said slot, anopaque strip having characters on one face thereof, the characters andpanel on which they are mounted having different light absorbingproperties, said strip being disposed relative to the glass panel sothat the-,iaee thereof bearin the characters contacts with the rear faceof the glass panel. the outer iece of said glass panel being frosted,whereby the light rays contacting with the inner face of the frostedsurface will be dispersed and reflected on to said strip and thecharacters for illuminating the same, said frosted surface of the glasspanel having a transparent lacquer applied thereto and filling thecavities in the glass surface.

FREDERICK L. SEELOR.

